Fans of the keyboard and mouse as the direct input method for PC use will rejoice today, as touchscreen loving Windows 8.1 is being served an update for all those ‘regressives’ (or gamers…) who are still using the tried and true input method. Metro apps now include taskbar buttons and title bars, designed for those using KB&M to better control windows and sizing.
Apparently the new update is mostly cut features that we all missed being fed back into the new OS, such as allowing hardware manufacturers to override the default settings and allow the operating system to boot directly to the Start Screen. Seems pretty basic, but a lot of people were confused on how to set the feature as default themselves.
On top of this, you can now pin apps to the bottom of the desktop for easy access, continuing this theme of easy access there is also now a convenient sleep/shut down/restart button on the upper right of the desktop. Oh, and you can now also right click on desktop icons to bring up a menu, allowing you to resize or unpin the app as per your wishes. Common features from Windows 7 seem to be making a comeback and are expanded upon in this update.
For developers, Microsoft has unveiled a code writing application for developers to create apps which will work across all Windows platforms, such a phone, tablet and desktop. This will increase an app’s exposure and hopefully allow developers to reach a larger audience with their product. Also across the board is the inclusion of the traditional ‘ribbon’ interface in Windows 8.1 versions of Powerpoint, Excel and Word, even on touch friendly cross platform versions.
Microsoft also claims that behind the scenes the update will make the OS use available memory more efficiently.
Windows 8.1 will automatically update itself, as long as you’re connected to the internet, on April 8th. The update includes all above features.